Felton, president of the firefighters union, said they are not willing to settle for anything less that what the judgement calls for. But Friday's ruling by the judge, demanding the city come up with a plan by the end of August, is a step in the right direction.

"Baby steps, but they’re still stepping in the right direction, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they do grind fine," said Felton.

A city attorney said in court, Friday, they will continue to seek creative solutions to determine how and when that money will be paid.

"The judge expects to hear, by then (Aug. 29) what plan can be put into place to satisfy the entire judgment, but specifically, between now and the end of August to address the annual leave component, that’s $7 million of the $75 million," said Louis Robein, an attorney for the union.

This money is separate from the $17.5 million of what could soon be a $70 million debt the city owes to its firefighters' pension fund. A hearing on that judgement has been scheduled for Sept. 3.

Earlier this year, Deputy Mayor Andy Koplin said that amount of money, combined with the NOPD and OPP consent decrees the city has also been ordered to fund, could be devastating to the city's budget and could potentially lead to cutting critical city services and employee furloughs.

Earlier this week, New Orleans City Council president Stacy Head recommended using $2 million from the Police Department's 2014 budget surplus, and asked Mayor Mitch Landrieu to furlough Fire Department employees for one day a month for the rest of 2014 to slow the city’s debt to the pension fund that grows larger every month.

"While she (Head) may say its rational, its irrational as far as firefighters see it," Felton said.